With Rise of Millennials, Professional Employer Organizations as 'Co-Employers' Are Uniquely Positioned to Manage Shift in Workplace Demographics, says ADP Executive

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Oct 06, 2014, 08:01 ET

ROSELAND, N.J., Oct. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the past thirty years, Professional Employer Organizations (PEO) have helped transform how businesses can manage their greatest asset—their employees. As demographic shifts redefine the workplaces of tomorrow, PEOs are uniquely positioned to help their clients navigate evolving dynamics that will make human resource management notably different than today. This was the theme of ADP TotalSource^® President Maria Black's recent keynote address to the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations' (NAPEO) 30^th annual conference in Miami, Florida. As the largest trade association for professional employer organizations (PEOs) in the nation, NAPEO represents a growing industry committed to serving their clients and their nearly three million worksite employees.

"Changes in demographics and advancements in workplace practices, as well as how we leverage these changes, will determine our future success," Black said. "Through it all, we cannot forget that we are in the people business. Employees are a company's most valuable asset."

Black explained that the workforce dynamics of the future are poised for a notable shift. She added that while up to five generations can be working side-by-side in a company today, according to recent estimates, 75 percent of the workforce will be made up of Millennials—those born in the early 1980s to the early 2000s—in just ten years, which is being fueled by the fact that 10,000 baby boomers reach retirement age every day.

"Current research shows that younger generations trust their employers, second only to their parents," Black said. "This puts the role of the employer in a different light. It also changes the dynamic for the PEO, which shares employee lifecycle responsibilities with its client partners – from hire to retire," Black added.

As a strategic HR and benefits administration partner to its clients, the PEO industry is well positioned to address the demographic shifts and workplace trends. This will help contribute to a more impactful relationship with client employees, Black said, especially relating to:

Work/Life Balance: Increasingly, all generations look for different forms of work/life balance, whether it's moving to part-time work, job sharing, or working remotely. PEOs can provide counsel, including cross-generational mentoring, to help their clients and their employees accommodate the changes that tomorrow's workplaces will bring.
Health: In addition to benefits and wellness programs, PEOs must stay informed about complex and continuously changing regulatory obligations designed to protect and educate employees.
Wealth: PEOs must be diligent about helping employees generate wealth and plan for retirement. Recent ADP Research Institute^® data show that as retirement nears, more employees attempt to "catch up" on their savings. The PEO industry must help younger generations see that they are responsible for the bulk of their retirement savings and highlight the need to start saving earlier rather than later.

ADP is acutely aware of these developments. "When taking into consideration the total number of employees ADP TotalSource manages on behalf of our clients, ADP^® TotalSource is among the top ten largest employers in the U.S. Through our 'co-employment' model, ADP shares certain or specific employee lifecycle responsibilities with our clients, which gives us firsthand knowledge about the evolving needs of both employers and their employees. These insights enable us to better understand, anticipate, and address the opportunities facing the workplaces of tomorrow, especially as they relate to work/life balance, health, and wealth," Black added.

ADP TotalSource is the nation's largest PEO, operating 59 offices in 29 states, with approximately 340,000 worksite employees. ADP TotalSource has created a powerful shared service model that allows our clients to gain access to FORTUNE 500^®-caliber benefits. These include retirement planning and an expanded wellness offering, Life: Keep it Well^SM. ADP TotalSource clients also have access to expertise that helps navigate health care reform and compliance with increasingly complex government regulations.

For more information about ADP TotalSource, please call 1-800-HIRE-ADP (800-447-3237) or visit www.adptotalsource.com.

About NAPEO
NAPEO is The Voice of the PEO Industry^TM and represents some 300 PEO members, ranging from start-ups to large publicly held companies with years of success in the industry, as well as some 200 service provider members.

About ADP
Employers around the world rely on ADP^® (NASDAQ: ADP) for cloud-based solutions and services to help manage their most important asset – their people. From human resources and payroll to talent management to benefits administration, ADP brings unmatched depth and expertise in helping clients build a better workforce. A pioneer in Human Capital Management (HCM) and business process outsourcing, ADP serves more than 610,000 clients in 100 countries. ADP.com.

For more information, contact:
Jim Duffy
ADP
(973) 712-2070
[email protected]

SOURCE ADP